1862 “A Fight Has Been Going On All Day at Manassas”—Union Military Telegram from General John A. Dix, August 31, 1862
Please note. We do not believethat the signature is from Dix's hand. It was evidently written by the telegraph operator.
Original United States Military Telegraph dispatch from Union Major General John A. Dix to Major General Erasmus D. Keyes, received August 31, 1862, immediately following the catastrophic Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run:
“A fight has been going on all day at Manassas. No particulars.
John A. Dix
Maj. Genl.”
The Second Battle of Bull Run—known in the South as Second Manassas—was fought August 28–30, 1862. On its final day, General James Longstreet launched a massive assault against the Union left, driving Major General John Pope’s Army of Virginia from the battlefield. This telegram was received the following day as incomplete reports of the battle continued to circulate through the Union command.
Dix, then commanding the Department of Virginia from Fortress Monroe, transmitted the message to Major General Erasmus D. Keyes, commander of the Army of the Potomac’s IV Corps. Its extraordinary brevity captures the uncertainty of Civil War command before complete reports of Pope’s defeat became available.
Dix was a veteran of the War of 1812, former United States senator and secretary of the treasury. At the opening of the Civil War he became nationally famous for ordering that anyone attempting to lower the American flag be shot “on the spot.” He later served as United States minister to France and governor of New York.
Manuscript on an official printed United States Military Telegraph received-message form. As was customary with received telegrams, the message and Dix’s name were probably transcribed by a telegraph operator; it is therefore offered as a contemporary received telegram from Dix rather than a personally signed autograph.
Original folds, upper-edge wrinkling, light toning, pencil catalog annotations and a later blue identification stamp. The historic message remains bold and fully legible.
Please note. We do not believethat the signature is from Dix's hand. It was evidently written by the telegraph operator.
Original United States Military Telegraph dispatch from Union Major General John A. Dix to Major General Erasmus D. Keyes, received August 31, 1862, immediately following the catastrophic Union defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run:
“A fight has been going on all day at Manassas. No particulars.
John A. Dix
Maj. Genl.”
The Second Battle of Bull Run—known in the South as Second Manassas—was fought August 28–30, 1862. On its final day, General James Longstreet launched a massive assault against the Union left, driving Major General John Pope’s Army of Virginia from the battlefield. This telegram was received the following day as incomplete reports of the battle continued to circulate through the Union command.
Dix, then commanding the Department of Virginia from Fortress Monroe, transmitted the message to Major General Erasmus D. Keyes, commander of the Army of the Potomac’s IV Corps. Its extraordinary brevity captures the uncertainty of Civil War command before complete reports of Pope’s defeat became available.
Dix was a veteran of the War of 1812, former United States senator and secretary of the treasury. At the opening of the Civil War he became nationally famous for ordering that anyone attempting to lower the American flag be shot “on the spot.” He later served as United States minister to France and governor of New York.
Manuscript on an official printed United States Military Telegraph received-message form. As was customary with received telegrams, the message and Dix’s name were probably transcribed by a telegraph operator; it is therefore offered as a contemporary received telegram from Dix rather than a personally signed autograph.
Original folds, upper-edge wrinkling, light toning, pencil catalog annotations and a later blue identification stamp. The historic message remains bold and fully legible.
